Interesting facts about the Braatz / Bratz family

Interesting facts about the Braatz / Bratz family

Revised version: Oct.27,98

The earliest information known is that the family is of Swedish origin, having one Braatz being part of the invading forces of King Gustav Adolf, from Sweden, in 1635 (information gathered by an historian named Werner Braatz, from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, who wrote a book "European History from 1500 on"

One Braatz family member who lives in Sweden, however, informed that her family had German origin (Stetin, Pomerania) - a sailor defected a German ship to live in Sweden in the 19th century. Another lives in Norway and wrote her father came from Klaipeda, Memel, Lituania to Sweden, first, and then to Norway.

Braatz, Bratz, Brat, Bratzke, Brattke, Bratsch, Braasch, Brasche, Brabandt are all supposed to be from the same origin - contradictory information have it as of Slavish origin, meaning "brother" or German, meaning "noisy rowdy person".

The supression of the second "a" in the family name is explained by the German use of the "Umlaut" symbol over a letter which appeared twice in sequence. Since it made no phonetic sence in English or Portuguese, the symbol was omitted in those countries which speak English or Portuguese.

There are Braatz family members in Germany (999, with listed phones in the 16 German States), in the USA (350, according to1970 Census data), in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Malaysia, Swizerland, Norway and Sweden. In a Yahoo search I found 489 entries with the name Braatz.

There is a Braatz Drive in Kewaskum, Wisconsin 53040, near the Hwy 45

In Germany, the family origin is Pomerania, in fact Hinterpommern, which belongs to Poland today.

Three different ships brought family members to Brazil:
- Christian and August Bratz, 1858 - Ship August Emma
- Gotfried Bratz, born 1808, arrived in 1860 - Ship Vesta
- Ship Assecurateur, left Hamburg in April 1865
- Gustav August Friedrich and Johann August Braatz, 1869 - Ship Gutenberg (constructed in England in 1862, 53,85 m long, which sailed up the river Jacuí in South Brazil to Rio Pardo. An ox cart transportation receipt documents the day of arrival as July, 9, 1869)

One family tree branch (mine) is as follows: Rudi Braatz (* 1942), Fridoldo (1917-1968), Ernesto (1895-1972), Guilherme Augusto Frederico (* 1877), Gustav August Friedrich (* 1854 in Wopersnow, Pomerania), Johann August (* 1835 in Leckow, Ruetzenhagen), Johann Braatz (* 1812). A brother from Johann August (1835) went to the USA, but I do not know his name.

A Captain Braatz, decorated with the "Kavalier des Eisernes Kreutzes" (iron cross of chevalry) of the Prussian Army was in General Bluecher's forces in 1815, which defeated Napoleon in Waterloo, in 1815 (a copy of the letter written by this Captain to a family Brandt, who lost a spouse in a battle over a bridge in Waterloo, is available). He belonged to the 2. Comp., 1. Batl., 4tem Kurmaerkish. Inftr. Regiments

The oldest record known is from Johann Gottlieb Bratz, born 1778 in Gross-Kuedde (now Gwada Wielke), county of Neustettin/Pomerania (now Szczecinek, in Poland). This ancestor has only one "a", but Agatha Roehnke nee Braatz, born 1822 in the same Gross-Kuedde and her siblings Friedrich and Mathilde have two "a"s. Certificates available in Australia.

My gratifying experience with family research

I was the first in my branch of the family who went back to Germany in 96 years, after the arrival of the family in Brazil.

In Hamburg I contacted the family of Wilhelm and Erna Braatz listed in the phone book. There I found the copy of the letter sent by the Captain Braatz written in Waterloo. I was invited to live with this family as I studied in Hamburg, in 1964.

In 65 I went to East Germany, during the cold war, and made contact, in Neu Brandenburg, with the family Berg, with a letter dated 1936, the last contact between the Brazilian family and the relatives who stayed in Germany. Without previous advise I knocked at the door of the address from 36, one of the very few houses not destroyed in the war, and there I found an 85 years old Berg, author of the last letters. In a closed Eastern Germany my visit was an intense emotion for all of us and I was shown off as an exotic parrot coming from the tropics.

In 70, as I studied in the USA, I made contact with Werner E. Braatz, whose name I found in a book directory and wrote to his editor. In about ten days I had an answer with the following coincidence: He sent me a newspaper clipping of a Braatz who died in Hamburg at the age of 105. Five years earlier, as she completed 100 years, it was notified in a newspaper in Hamburg, and I visited her. He also wrote me about a "Moebelfirma" in Stettin, a landmark in that city which had been demolished. Werner Braatz visited me in Porto Alegre, coming by ship from the USA up to the river port of Porto Alegre.

The interest in carpentry, present in my grandfather and father, were also informed to me by Ingrid Braatz Leland, whose grandfather Ferdinand, a "Zimmermann" by trade, who built windmills. This Ferdinand lived in Blumenau, Brazil, married three times. The third with a native indian 37 years younger, who had been adopted by a German family. They took her to Germany. Ingrid's family ancestors went. first to Chile and then to California.

Since the beggining of October, when I decided to use de Net to reach the family, I got more answers then in the previous 34 years. Peter Albert, from New York, wrote that he visited an estate in East Prussia which for 800 years belonged to the family. Another informed about contacts with a Braatz family in Australia. The son of Ervin Braatz sent a message to say that his father did extensive genealogic research. Now I am confident that we will be able to write a book upon the contents of a Home Page.

Suggestions to advance and reunite information on the Braatz family

Establish a Braatz family Home Page at the WEB (who volunteers to host it) - A Menu suggestion follows. - Today, Oct. 6, I already have an offer by James Braatz, from the USA, to host and prepare the Family Home Page.

I would kindly ask anyone from the family willing to help to do the following:

To send me Braatz known adresses (e-mail, post or phones);
Look up phone books everywhere during travel and send me the addresses;

Put Braatz addresses (particularly e-mail) in as many on-line Directories as possible (Yahoo, Hotmail, ICQ (wwp.mirabilis.com or Fehler! Textmarke nicht definiert. - this one informs who is on-line at a particular time);

Pass on these information by e-mail and fax to family members everywhere;

To send me interesting facts about the history of the family;

List sources of genealogic information, or contact these sources to see if something is available about our family;

Inform about residents in other continents (are there Braatzes in Australia, Asia or Africa)

Set up a genealogic tree software at the Bratz/Braatz Family Home Page.

Is somebody willing to do sistematic research and pass it on to all the family Could we commission a professional researcher to do it?

Would anybody with access to old Pommerania maps find the geographic coordinates (paralells and meridians) of the localities mentioned in family records? (see a list below)

Who has access to the BBS mailbox com-gen.box, which supposedly has a complete index of German Family names (Deutschen Geschlechternbuechern)?

Braatz Family Home Page

Suggested Menu

Address book (including birthdays)

Genealogic information - Genealogic Tree software

Interesting facts

Bibliography (published books and articles - any subject, not only genealogy)

Events (births, deaths, marriages, homages,...)

Expertise in the family (brief resumes of professionals)

Photo Album (typical faces, a Braatz at the China Wall or Himalaya!)

Voyages (who is traveling where)

Sources (genealogic information)

Ideas, suggestions, initiatives, questions, contacts for chat -

Hereditary health information (any known genetic defect DNA structure?) - Rarely Braatz have twins! No tendency to obesity! Early gray hair! What about baldness? Eyesight (astigmatismus or myopia - this stronger in the right eye)?

Links (to other related family trees through marriage or sources)

Sources of genealogic information for research

Domstiftsarchiv Ratzeburg, Domhof 35, D-2418 Ratzeburg, Germany

(about 2,400 church registration books, including those of Pomerania)

Landesarchiv Greifswald - Postfach 3323 D-17463 Greifswald, fax 03834/2552, which has:
- Generalmusterrollen (military enrollment) from 1791-1807)
- Hiterpommersche Hufenklassification - Protokolle fuer jedes Dorf von 1717/1719, mit Angaben zu den Besitzern - Tax paying owners
- Oberpraesidenten mit Auswanderern - Verwaltung der Kreise und Staedte (1815-1933) - Emigrants
- Kirchenbuecher - Church records - Temmen, an editor from Rostock edited in 1996 a book about these records

Staatsarchiv Hamburg, ABC Str. 19, D-2000 Hamburg 36 - Einschiffungs-register zur Auswanderung, with more than 5 million family names

Historic Emigration Office - Museum fuer Hamburgische Geschichte (1850-1914) - Holstenwall 24 - 2.000 Hamburg 36 - Phone 040 30 05 1250

Familienforschung - Ahnentafel - Wappenkunde, Falken - Verlag Gmbh, 6272, Niederhausen / TS

Famílias Brasileiras de Origem Germânica, Joinville, Brazil

Projeto Imigrantes, Cx. Postal 379 CEP 92 010-013 Canoas, RS, Brazil

(I wrote them and hopefully will have some more information soon)

Zentralstelle fuer Genealogie, Georgi-Dimitroff-Platz 1 PSF 947 Leipzig Phone 00 489 007 and 31 14 12 (this is a DDR address. I made a contact in 1990 and they informed they have Church books from the 1638-1768 period for Ruetzenhagen and consequently Leckow)

Unfruitfull searches at: Heimatortskartei fuer Pommern, Luebeck (they have only the persons living in the region at the beginning of the war (1939); Staatsarchiv Scherin - has no Braatz or Bratz in their emigrants lists; Staatsarchiv Greifswald informed that they do not have church books from Leckow, Ruetzenhagen, Wopersnow, Zeinicke, Shievelbein and Koeslin.

Interesting INTERNET sites do visit on the Genealogy subject:

http://dg3.chemie.uni-konstanz.de/~stuebs/Pommern/Literatur/Genealogien

http://search.ancestry.com/

http://www.rootsweb.com

http://familypoint.com/

Localities mentioned in ancestor's registers:

Wopersnow;

Leckow, Ruetzenhagen (is not in Mecklenburg);

Koeslin

Zeinicke

Carlsburg, Arnswalde;

Vehlingsdorff, Saatzinger;